Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family January 1915 - May 1915 - Part 14

within 400 yds of the Turks & dug in. The French
retired & let them down.
Saturday Your P. le came this morning
so I'll leave this letter until I see you.
Tuesday. We've all been looking forwad
to seeing you down here but so far you've
not turned up. Yesterday, a big batch
came in & I'll give you the fullest details
of our men. We mustered 400 with including
(1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements) & the Brigade 2,200,
to Go to Cape Helles. We were badly cut up &
'tis doubtful if the Brigade can muster 400 men
now. Six new 2nd Lieuts’ were promoted namly
Fraser [*shot in head condition serious*], West, Brown [*wounded*], Wall [*wounded*], Miller ("D" Coy) [*Killed*] &
Carmichael [*wounded*].

Now for our officers

"A" Coy.  Mason, wounded.                 

 Johnson, hit in stomach & gone to Malta (since dead.HGG)

Heron, right eye shot out, Deaconness Hospital, [[Malta?]]
Weddell, still going
Henderson, (Allan) killed at Sari Bair
"B" Coy. Jackson, hit
Layh, hit.
Scanlon, hit in arm, gone to Malta.
Swift, one in body, gone to Malta,
Heighway, hit
Chapman, dead.
 

3
"C" Coy McKenna, dead. Killed at Sari Bair
               Blick, dead              "      "      "      "
Rupert Hendrson, killed at Cape Helles
Grills, still going.
Rogers, hit.

Self, hit.
"D" Coy
Hunter, killed at Cape Helles
DeRavin, foot. Gone to Malta
Connelly, hit, right arm bone splintered.
Davey, dead, killed Sari Bair
Denehey, (arm) gone to England.
Blizard, hit right left lh breast above heart
Hopkinson, still there
Tubb at Alexandria (Mex Camp)
Fin ^{(ie Capt. Finlayson)} is in the Deaconness Hospital with
a fractured leg. He is jolly bad on it & will
he a long while picking up. He is very
weak & has had a jolly bad time. However
with attention he'll pull together & a couple
of days will see him brighter. His leg is badly
“done in” & gives him no end of pain.
Stewart ^{(signalling officer)} is also there with hits in the legs.
So that leaves us with Weddell
Grills &, Hopkinson still there. Hunts had
bad luck.  he was getting his foot
 

4

dressed & got shot in the head, I am
so jolly sorry about poor old Rupert. He
was a good chap & according to reports the
best of soldiers.
Liddelow, ^{(1st Reinforcements 7th Battn)}has a bullet wound in the
foot & is in the Deaconnesses, Alexandria.
Hornby & Ross ^{(2nd and 3rd Reinforcement officers 7th Battn both wounded)} have gone to Malta.
Blizard, ^{(2nd in command 7th)} is not to well & Jackson
tells me he is very weak. I met the
latter this afternoon & he tells me you'll
be down to -morrow
Wednesday . We fully expected to see you
to morrow day but  again you didn’t
come. & I’m wondering if you’ve had a
relapse of bronchitis. You didnt look
to well when I saw you last. We just got
the sad news that General Bridges had
been wounded & died on the Hospital
ship. This is absolutely the truth, as the
Naval Transport officer told me. ‘Tis jolly
bad luck & will cause a stir in Australia.
I have left the Hospital & am staying
with Mrs Blagden, The Waterworks, Alexandria.
They’re are six here. Two. Naval Division
officers, & Capt Yeomans, a N.Z sub, myself
& one to come. We are only 200yds from
The Hospital & go there daily. 
 

5
Personally I was “pretty crook“ after Cairo.
& had a couple of days in bed. I’m getting
my head clearer & my shoulder is heaps better,
but as yet I cannot move it. However
I'll soon be fit as I think I know “the man
who did it”.
The Naval Divison Officers speak very
disparagingly about the French. They do not
like the fire & are loathe to get on. The
Singalese - those black fellows, are
are terrible funks. They got a lot of snipers at
Cape Helles with their faces painted green &
up the trees. They certainly are wily but Get
little mercy. They got an office down there
& found orders on him, dated five days before

landing, & they gave the names of each
Battalion going against them. It further 
stated if the Turks fought gallantly we’d
never land.
Talking this afternoon to an officer wounded
at Kaba Tepe. he said we had plenty of men,
food, ammunition & bombs. At first they had
jam tins & they were very effective, in fact,
more so than the real arrangements they
have now. He says our men used to
throw a tin with only a few stones in
 

6

& the Turks would run & get shot as they left
the trench. He says our men take no
prisoners, & the Turks are scared to surrender. 
The Light Horse Itake the Trenches for 4 days
& the Infantry for 6 days, & each man gets
his turn once in 10 days. On Kaba Tepe
they still have three or four guns & the
beach gets it daily. However our orders
are to “hang on” & they yreckon they'll
never get us out. The Turkish attacks
are very weak. The German officers try to
get them to Attack & only some 30 or 40
get up & they are soon settled. He said
the Turkish dead were many & their losses
were nearly two to one of us. He says
they’re all happy & confident & our
machine guns & doing exceptionally
Good work now. 
Colonel M^cNicol ^{(now O.C 6th Battn)} is in Alexandria,
Victoria Hospital. he is shot in stomach &
the Marine Light Infantry put a bayonet
in his shoulder. The Brigadier is there 
also & stopped one in the leg. He has
Hastie with him & Major Class has two
through the chest & is in the Deaconess.
So that means the Brigade is settled.
Col. Gertside had command of the
 

7

7th & he was killed at Cape Helles.
There is little news now but I can
write a bit now & I'll let you have
a note each day, telling you anything
we hear.
Yours very sincerely 
Hally, Conder